Fabric display dummy having a figure partly connected to a surrounding frame



Dec. 27, 1960 G. GIOVETTI 2,965,981

FABRIC DISPLAY DUMMY HAVING A FIGURE PARTLY CONNECTED TO A SURROUNDINGFRAME Filed April 9, 1957 United States atent 2,965,981 FABRIC DISPLAYDUMll/IY HAVING A FIGURE PARTLY CONNECTED TO A SURROUNDING 5 FRAMEGiuliano Giovetti, Spilamberto, Italy Dr. G. Modiano, Via Meravigli 16,Milan, Italy) Filed Apr. 9, 1957, Ser. No. 651,781

Claims priority, application Italy Apr. 9, 1956 1 Claim. (Cl. 35-56) andexpensive materials, and well known too are the dif- 2O ficulties andtroubles of their dressing up due chiefly to the fact that it takesspecial contrivances to hold and adapt the fabric to the body of thedummy, in accordance to some prearranged and/or desired pleasingappearance.

Well known are also the dummies made out of patterns cut out of stiffpaper board, generally not raised in relief, that once dressed up aredisplayed leaning against or somehow held up in store windows, for theeffective display of the fabrics. However, these are cumbersome to dressup, without coming up to the required pleasing effects of a proper andesthetic presentation attained only with carved or molded dummies, whichare substantially self-supporting.

Besides the disadvantages due to the toilsome dressing and draping ofthe mannequins, and of the necessity of having to resort to pins andother means of fastening to keep the fabric properly arranged in place,the conventional dummies are handicapped by other disadvantages due tothe problem of their unsteadiness in the store windows which requiresthe use of a base or other means of support, often at considerableexpenses.

An object of this invention is to eliminate all of these inconveniencesand drawbacks by creating a dummy that can be draped and dressed easily,without having to resort to auxiliary means of fastening, like pins orthe like,

unless some uncommon effects of draping have to be attained in thefabric to be displayed for sale.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dummy as describedabove, which could be self-supporting, in

order to stand up by itself, on account of an incorporated 5Q steadyingfixture which would allow the mannequin to stand up or easily to receivesupport in show windows or elsewhere.

A further object of this invention is to obtain a dummy which could befabricated by a simple manufacturing process, one that would not requirethe design and adoption of intricate parts, and instead would beamenable to adaptation to many practicable aspects, as for example thehuman person: man, woman, babies, young people,

or other beings living or fantastic, such as the fashion suggests or forwhich a need arises.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dummy whose variousparts could be draped with sundry pieces of the same fabric, or elsewith different cloth altogether,

without it being necessary to have to out the cloth away from the boltof dry goods in order to do the draping, and wherein moreover the boltof cloth could be hidden away behind the mannequin itself, or better yetthe bolt of cloth could be left visible beside the dummy, so as to bringforth as an associate idea what is the real object of the display.

Another object of this invention is to provide a dummy,

of the type so far described, with a pattern wherein the framing panelmounting, cast integral with the dummy, could be readily modified toenhance the appearance of the whole, and/or be possibly utilized to showwritten words or other graphic indications found convenient for displaypurposes.

All of these and other objects are obtained by the invention, which ischaracterized in that it includes a figure to be dressed up or draped,at least partly made of pliable and elastic material, held in acorrespondingly apertured space of a frame mounting contour, the figurebeing partially detached from the mounting by means of cuttings allalong the edge of its outline, except for small portions of its marginalrim.

There will now be given a more descriptive illustration of thisinvention, reference being taken to the accompanying drawing, which isintended to be only for indicative purpose and not in any waylimitative:

Fig. 1 shows in perspective view a panel according to this invention, onwhich is mounted a dummy that is intended to portray a ladys figure; t

Fig. 2 shows on perspective side view the same dummy, but with the formpartially flexed, so as to allow for the easy dressing of the figureitself;

Fig. 3 shows the same dummy during draping and dressing with the clothof the bolt of goods standing on the floor beside the flame mounting;and

Fig. 4 shows the perspective back view of the mounting frame fitted witha different dummy, one depicting a mans body.

Considering Figs. 1 to 3, the dummy consists of a form generally marked1, in the shape ofa woman, of which the outline is partially cut out ofa panel, generally marked 2,.some parts of the outline remainingattached to the panel. On observing the drawing, it can be noticed thatpart of the tracing that outlines the womans shape in Fig. 1, is shownby a full line 3 andrepresents those parts of the dummy that areintegral with panel 2, while those parts of the outline which are shownin the-same Fig. 1 with double lines 4 represent the cut-away parts ofthe dummys shape, inside the surrounding frame 2. Fig. 1 shows clearlythe parts in question as being those which are located above the wrists,at ankles height in the legs, and also all around the head down towardthe neck.

In conformity with this invention, the frame 2 is apertured, as at 4,along the outline of the dummy, and more particularly all along thetraces shown double-lined in the drawing and marked 4. 'In this slit thefabric is drawn across over the body of the dummy, to dress it up in itsbest advantage. Likewise, other slits can be cut out in the dummys body,in correspondence with the wrists, with the upper part of the chest,etc., as shown at 5, 6 in the drawing; and at 5' when the auxiliaryslits (always out in cross direction with respect to the main slitsmarked 4) are needed to drape the arms only partway down. It will befound practical to mold the dummy and the frame at the same time from asingle piece of material, all the slits 4 being cut by the same dies atthe time of the first punching or successively the dummy 1 cast in mostcases in a contrasting color to the frame 2, generally of a flesh tint.

Another feature, not essential but advantageous, of this invention isgiven by the possibility of embossing in relief the body of the dummy,with the shapes corresponding to the human figure, or some nicely moldedimitation.

Considering now Fig. 4, it will be noticed that the same referencenumbers point out the parts having identical functions elsewhere butthat, to avoid confusion, an a has been added to these numbers. It willthus be seen that the dummy is identified by the blank 1a, cut in theshape of a man, in the panel marked 2a, along the slits 4a, the blankremaining integral with the panel along the lines marked 3a, i.e. at thehands, the feet and the head of the figure. Likewise, auxiliary slitscan be provided along the lines marked a, separating the arms from thebust. The structure defined above points up another advantageous featureof this invention, i.e. the fact that generally the hand and feet do nothave to be draped or dressed with cloth and therefore may be leftintegral with frame-mounting panel 2.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3, it can be imagined that the draping ordressing up of the dummy is to be accomplished by taking advantage ofthe elasticity of its material (or part of it), by flexing the form outof the frame mounting 2, along its connection to the frame 2 as shown inFig. 2, then draping the fabric around it as needed. By releasing thepressure used in bending out of place the dummys form, after the drapinghas been done, the dummy will return to its original position in theframe, as shown in Fig. 1, flush with the edge of panel 2; and thefabric used in the draping will be clamped in the edges of the slits 4and held tight around the outline of the dummy, now sprung back into thepanel 2 to its original position.

The auxiliary slits marked 5 and 6 can be put to use at the time when itis wanted to drape the arms or legs of the dummy with sleeves or pantsof a fabric different from the one that is being used to dress the bodyof the dummy or to match color and stripes properly, when the latterhave to be oriented in a certain way, as in the sleeves of a mans suitof clothes. The auxiliary slits, adjusted to be cut wherever they areneeded on the figure, permit the draping of a the dummy with long orshort sleeves, or else with various heights of low-cut in the neck ofthe womans gown, at the time when the draping of the dummy is beingdone, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 (the dummy in this case representing theshape of a womans body).

As explained above, the fabric becomes tightly held, i.e. clamped, inthe slits between the frame mounting and the blank of the dummy,following its most varied contour, without recourse to pins or othermeans of fastening, the tightness in the slits will be suflicient forall purposes.

At times it will be found convenient not to have the dummy made in fullfigure of the human body; the form could then accordingly depict onlypart of the bust of such body. The form could likewise show figures ofbabies or other living beings, also figures of beings entirely imaginaryand purely fantastic.

Although the preferred embodiments of the invention have been hereindescribed, various modifications and substitutions may be effectedwithout departing from the underlying inventive concept. It is notintended, therefore, to be limited to the specific disclosure containedherein, and hereby the right is reserved to all such modifications andsubstitutions as properly come within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A dummy dressed up with fabrics for display, comprising an integralplate of resilient material provided with slits and constituting severalcantilever portions in sculptural convex relief simulating a humanfigure to be clothed, said slits extending along nearly the entireoutline of said sculptural relief and defining on said plate a framingcomplementary to said cantilever portions, each of said cantileverportions being integrally connected at one end with said framing, one ofsaid cantilever portions constituting the major part of the human figurewith one of said slits being V-shaped and extending into said one ofsaid cantilever portions, thereby defining a pair of legs on saidfigure, and other cantilever portions constituting complementary partsof the human figure, said portions being adapted to be bent rearwardlyfrom said framing and, when dressed with a fabric, to be swung back totheir rest positions wherein said framing and said portions grip saidfabric substantially in the plane of said framing.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Re.14,178 McCarrell Aug. 1, 1916 1,273,945 Sooy July 30, 1918 1,519,934Ross Dec. 16, 1924

